Visiting Pandas in Zoo

Our guide will meet you outside the customs of Beijing Airport displaying a sign to identify you by name. Then, he/she will accompany you to your hotel and help you settle down. The rest of the day is on your own.

Meals: No meals, advice freely available

Day 2 Beijing

Mutianyu Great Wall, Beijing

This morning, the guide will lead you on a stroll in the world's largest urban square, Tiananmen Square, and proceed northward to reach the Forbidden City, a center of power in ancient China and a museum of cultural and architectural relics.

By noon, we will arrange an a la carte lunch (valued at CNY150.00 per person and included in our price) at a decent restaurant, where you can taste authentic and delicious Chinese food. In the afternoon, we will head for the Temple of Heaven, which was believed to be the dwelling of the God of Heaven and where emperors prayed for harvests in ancient times.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, A la carte lunch

Day 3 Beijing

In the morning, our professional guide and driver will bring you to an excursion to Mutianyu Great Wall with round-trip cable car ride included. Although less well known than Badaling section, it is better well preserved; and more importantly, it is less crowded and you can enjoy yourselves more thoroughly. Lunch is on your own today, as no restaurants near the Great Wall can meet our service expectation. We would rather that you take a big breakfast and pack some snacks for lunch. After lunch, we will drive by the Bird's Nest (Olympic National Stadium) on our way downtown. In the afternoon, follow the guide to meander along the Hutongs, where common local people lived, are living, and expect live for generations.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast

Day 4 Beijing - Xian

A cool pose for a photograph

Today we reach the climax of this private China panda tour. The guide will take you to visit the cute giant pandas in Beijing Zoo! Covering an area of 2.5 acres (10,000 square meters), the panda house in the zoo resembles a bamboo shoot and it is divided into three different areas for adult pandas, young pandas, and mothers with cubs respectively. Lots of vegetation is planted outside or inside the house to build an amicable living environment for the cuties, mostly bamboos and also some pine trees, maple trees, and locust trees. Pandas are usually active from 10:00 to 12:00, when it is their play and lunch time. During that period, you will see them chewing bamboos greedily and playing with each other happily. Afterward, we will continue the tour to the Summer Palace, where royal families entertained themselves in the Qing Dynasty (1644 - 1911).

In the afternoon, our guide will see you off, and help you board a high-speed train to Xian. Our Xian guide will wait for you at the railway station. After a warm greeting to you all, he/she will transfer you to the hotel and help you check in.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast

Day 5 Xian

Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum, Xian

Today's trip will begin with a visit to Terracotta Warriors and Horses Museum. At the guidance and detailed explanation of our guide, you may marvel at this massive Terracotta Army built over 2,200 years ago to protect Emperor Qin Shi Huang, the first emperor of China in his afterlife.

In the afternoon, we will go back to downtown to visit the Small Wild Goose Pagoda and the nearby Xian Museum. Built in the reign of Emperor Li Dan to commemorate his father in the Tang Dynasty (618 - 907 AD), the Small Wild Goose Pagoda has been one of the landmarks of Xian nowadays.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast

Day 6 Xian - Shanghai

In the morning, the guide will take you up the City Wall and examine the city from a different viewpoint. Afterward, we will continue to the Great Mosque, a historical architecture complex to retrace Muslim history in Xian. After visiting the mosque, we will then walk by the Muslim Food Street to the main street, and then drive to a local family home. The visit to this local family will be a great chance for you to discover more about daily lives of common Chinese people. Also, you will be served an a la carte lunch (valued CNY120.00 per person included in our price) in the family to enjoy authentic home cooking. If interested, you can learn to cook several dishes from the hostess. After the delicious lunch, the guide will transfer you to the airport and help you board the flight to Shanghai. Upon arrival, our Shanghai guide will pick you up and then escort you to the hotel. Have a good rest to store more energy for the following visits.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, Home cooked a la carte lunch

Day 7 Shanghai

Shanghai Bund

This morning, we offer two options for you - visiting the giant pandas in Shanghai Zoo or the Urban Planning Exhibition Hall according to your interest. Pandas in Shanghai Zoo live in a fan-like house. Their indoor activity area is covered by transparent glass, so visitors can watch the cute animals clearly; their outdoor activity area is equipped with woods, grasslands, rocks, and a pool for them to frolic in. The Urban Planning Exhibition Hall in the city center shows the achievements in Shanghai's city planning and construction. Here, you can also have a panoramic view of the city through the model made to a scale of 1/500.

In the noon, we will serve you an a la carte farewell lunch (valued CNY150.00 per person and included in our price) at a fancy local restaurant famous for authentic Shanghai and Cantonese cuisine. In the afternoon, the guide will accompany you to visit the Yu Garden, a typical Chinese classical garden. Later, follow the guide to stroll on the Bund famous for various western style buildings, and the Nanjing Road, which is China's most prosperous pedestrian street.

Meals: Western buffet breakfast, A la carte lunch

Day 8 Departure from Shanghai

Your private panda tour will end today as our guide will transfer you to the airport and help you board the flight home. Have a safe trip and welcome to China again!

As far as I googled, there are several panda bases around chengdu, where you can take part in the volunteer program:

Wolong Nature reserveDujiangyan baseChengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding (Is it just a different name for Dujiangyan base? )Bifengxia base

There volunteering programs in each base are pretty much similar, and in all of them there's the option of panda holding for additional 1800 CNY. (Correct me if I'm wrong)

The question is - what are the differences in the volunteer experience in each place?

Answers (1)

Answered by Billy from CANADA | Aug. 08, 2018 19:00

00Reply

Chengdu Research Base of Giant Panda Breeding is a different place from Dujiangyan base and you can’t take part in the volunteer program there. There is no large difference, but you can only take part in it through a large travel agency.

Asked by Trang from VIETNAM | Oct. 11, 2017 05:35Reply

May I know if there is any Shanghai tour including seeing pandas? Thanks!

Answers (1)

Answered by TravelChinaGuide | Oct. 12, 2017 02:51

00Reply

Dear Trang,

We can arrange the tour including seeing pandas. If you are interested, please send us an email through traveltravelchinaguide.com for more information.

Kindest regards, TravelChinaGuide

Asked by Artur from POLAND | Apr. 20, 2017 08:34Reply

What bus should I take from Xian Xianyang Airport to the Mercure on Renmin Square?

Answers (1)

Answered by Mignon from AUSTRALIA | Apr. 20, 2017 20:54

30Reply

Upon landing, you can take shuttle bus East Street Line and get off at Grand Metropark Hotel first. It takes around 70 mins with the fare of CNY 25 per person. After arriving, take a taxi to the destination. It costs CNY 10 in the day time.

Asked by Heather | Jun. 13, 2016 03:41Reply

panda viewing

Can you explain the panda viewing in your tours? Is it a private viewing or is it just a visit to the zoo along with everyone else?

Answers (1)

Answered by TravelChinaGuide | Jun. 13, 2016 03:41

00Reply

This is a private tour, and our guide will accompany you to see pandas in zoos each city. It is not a private panda viewing. There is no any zoo offering private viewing in China.